Second Life: What Is It?

Many people have heard of Second Life either because they participate in Second life or because they have overheard people talking about Second Life. For those of you who have only heard of Second Life in passing conversations you might be wondering just what Second Life is. Many people tend to think that Second Life is some kind of a computer game, and in a sense it is a computer game, but actually there is a lot more to Second Life than just any old computer game. Second Life is actually a 3D digital world, meaning everything is done on computer screens, which is imagined and created by its Residents.

Here are some things that you need to know about Second Life.

Number One:

An important part of Second Life is the Residents. One thing that you need to know is that the term Residents does not describe everybody who is involved in Second Life, but this term is basically used to describe the people who have created a Second Life account and actually log into the account and participate on a regular basis. Basically the term Residents is used to describe the people who are actually users of the Second Life software. Something else that you need to know about Residents is that their appearance is called their avatar. The basic avatar is human in appearance but it can be either sex, have a huge range of physical attributes and it can be clothed or customized to produce a wide variety of humanoid and other forms.

Number Two:

In the game there are two basic ways that you can communicate with the other Residents, but both methods are text-based methods of communications. Your two options in Second Life are chatting and global instant messaging. Chatting is basically used for public conversations and can be heard within 20 meters, if you shout you can be heard within 96 meters. And instant messaging is used for private conversations between two Residents or between members of a group.

Number Three:

When it comes to moving around in Second Life the Residents have a few limited options. The most basic method of getting around in Second Life is by foot, but if you wish to travel more rapidly you can also fly up to about 170 meters above the terrain without needing any special equipment. You can also purchase a vehicle or use the basic go-kart that is in the object library. Keep in mind some of the vehicles are available for free but others you are going to need to purchase. But in keeping pace with it being a virtual world Residents can also teleport, which means they can travel from one landmark to the next instantaneously.

Number Four:

Something else that you need to know about Second Life is that although it is similar to a role playing game it is actually quite different. The reason that Second Life is different from a role playing game that you find online is that you basically get what you want out of the game. Basically what this means is that you can do pretty much whatever you want in the course of the game. There are no tasks that you must complete, no quests that you have to undertake or no bad guys you must kill before moving on to the next level. In fact there are no levels in this game, which is why many people do not like to think of Second Life as a game at all. Basically you get what you want out of the game, meaning if you want to play games, fight dragons or just sit around and chat with others you can, there is no objective for this type of a game at all.